Ezio Auditore da Firenze
Ezio Auditore da Firenze (1459 – 1524) was a Florentine nobleman during the Renaissance and, unbeknownst to most historians and philosophers, the Mentor of the Italian branch of the Assassin Order, a title he held from 1503 to 1512. He was also an ancestor to Desmond Miles and Clay Kaczmarek. A member of the House of Auditore, Ezio remained unaware of his Assassin heritage until the age of 17, when he witnessed the hanging of his father and two brothers, Federico and Petruccio. Forced to flee his birthplace with his remaining family members - his mother and sister - Ezio took refuge in the Tuscan town of Monteriggioni, at the Villa Auditore. After learning of his heritage from his uncle, Mario Auditore, Ezio began his Assassin training and set about on his quest for vengeance against the Templar Order, and their Grand Master, Rodrigo Borgia, who had ordered the execution of his kin. During his travels, Ezio managed to not only unite the pages of the Codex, written by Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Mentor of the Levantine Assassins, but also to save the cities of Florence, Venice, and Rome from Templar rule. He ensured the future travels of Christoffa Corombo to the "New World", liberated Rome from Borgia rule, and prevented the rise to power of Ercole Massimo's Cult of Hermes, helping spread the Renaissance and Assassin ideals of independence and free thought throughout Italy. In the years that followed, Ezio began a quest to rediscover the lost history of the Order. Traveling to the aged fortress of Masyaf in order to learn more of the Assassins before him, he discovered it overrun with Templars and made his way to the city of Constantinople to uncover the location of the Masyaf keys which, as he discovered, would unlock the fortress's fabled hidden library when brought together. A decade later, Ezio was retired and residing in a Tuscan villa with his wife, Sofia Sartor, and his two children; Flavia and Marcello. Some time after helping teach the Chinese Assassin Shao Jun the ways of the Order, Ezio died of a heart attack at the age of 65, during a visit to Florence with his wife and daughter. Battle vs. Link (by Drayco90) The high tower of the stone cathedral stood vanguard over the small village below it. The church sat like a castle in the middle of the town, at the top of a hill in order to be the most visually attractive building for miles. The building had been constructed by rich missionaries many generations before, in an extravagant attempt to convert the local ‘savages’ to Christianity. Of course, the church-going people had no idea that a decades ago the Assassin Order had taken over the long-spanning (and long abandoned) catacombs, discovering an ancient artifact within that they knew they had to keep from the Templar. Ganon’s forces were hitting the kingdom of Hyrule hard, and the royal family knew that if help wasn’t sent soon, they would be over taken by the dark armies. The champion who had held off the forces of Twilight in years past, the mighty Hylian Link set out on the back of his chestnut steed, Epona, to seek out weapons and artifacts that could be used to save the life of Princess Zelda and keep safe the lands of Hyrule. So the ‘Hero of Time’ had made his way to this quiet little village on the outskirts of Hyrule. The white-cloaked man watched from the top of the bell tower as the green-clad warrior rode in. It was clear to Ezio Auditore da Firenze what the elf-like warrior was here for, and it was fortunate that he had taken a break from his war with the Borgia to come to talk with his fellow Assassins holding the cathedral. Link hitched Epona at the entrance and strode in to the church, just as the great bell towers began to ring across the empty, sleeping village. Link glanced up at the tower, but there was nothing of note there, save for a single majestic eagle screeching as it flew from it’s perch. Vast was the exterior of the Church, and Link glanced to and fro. It seemed every person in the village who could walk, and a good sum who couldn’t, had come to services this morning. Link weaved through the crowds and past a cordoned-off stairway leading down into the catacombs below, his hand resting on the Master Sword’s hilt. He was expecting an army of skeletons and pig-creatures standing between him and whatever treasure was hidden within, but he was wholly unprepared for the foe that he actually was to face. With a loud twang, a crossbow bolt sailed past Link’s ear, pinpointing the brick wall in front of him with a thud. Link turned slightly, seeing a white-robed man at the top of the staircase, a crossbow in his hand. “You have stumbled onto land owned by the Assassin Order.” Ezio announced to his unwelcome guest “The artifact you seek is not yours to take, signore.” “…” Link knew he needed all the help he could get in bringing down Ganon, and it’s not as if Assassins were savory characters anyway. Perhaps he would be bringing down the villains of another story in this fight. Link quickly drew his shield and blocked a second crossbow bolt, unsheathing his Master Sword at the same time. He charged the assassin, swinging the sword. Ezio sidestepped the blow, but was surprised to see a blast of energy burst from the tip. The Auditore snapped his arm back, smacking the Hylian across the face with his crossbow. He fired another bolt just as Link swung his sword at the bow, causing the bolt to miss it’s intended target and pierce through Link’s thin shoe. With a heroic yell, Link slammed his shield in Ezio’s face, causing the assassin to stumble backwards and drop his crossbow in a daze. Link prepared to stab at Ezio again, but the assassin recovered in time to parry the blow with the Dagger of Brutus. Quickly, Ezio drew the Sword of Altiar and made a swing at the Hylian while he was still blocking the Master Sword with his dagger. Link reared back, only losing a few of his blonde hairs from the speedy swing. Link raised the shield to dodge another swing, but as he did so Ezio leapt into the air, using Link’s shield as a platform he jumped behind the green-tunic wearing Hero and delivering a swipe to Link’s back with the sword. Link cried out and discarded his shield, knowing the disadvantages it’s weight and size created outweighed it’s positives in this battle. Drawing his Hookshot, Link latched on to Ezio and swung him across the room, allowing the Hylian some breathing room. Ezio slammed into the wall with a crash and slowly rolled down to the ground below. Ezio sheathed his sword and dagger and drew the Condottiero War Hammer, using the weapon to prop himself up off the floor. At the same time, Link primed a bomb from his pouch and rolled it across the room. The bomb landed right at Ezio’s feet, where it sat there and began to expand and deflate in a slow rhythmic pattern while the fuse burned even slower. Ezio swung the hammer at the explosive, sending it back across the room, landing in the corner where it detonated, causing part of the wall to cave in. Screams from the people terrified upstairs could be heard, and dust kicked down from the ceiling as the people began to run in a mass exodus out of the church. Ezio charged Link with his War Hammer high, his first overhead swing missed as Link rolled to the right as Link fired a slingshot projectile at the Assassin’s face. Ezio hissed as the shot broke skin directly under his eye, causing fresh blood to slowly trickle down his cheek. While the pain was biting, it wasn’t nearly major enough to slow down his next swing, and the war hammer impacted on Link’s knee. The sharp crack of bone giving way to harsh metal caused the Hylian to scream out in pain and buckle to the ground. Ezio raised the hammer, preparing to crush the writing head of his foe, but as he prepared to bring in back down, Link fired the Hookshot and latched on the hammer, ripping it from his hands. Link grabbed another bomb and slammed it into Ezio’s stomach, limping away deeper into the catacombs as Ezio was caught in the explosion and went sailing across the room. Ezio coughed and dusted off the smoke from his robes as he recovered from the blow. Focusing his Eagle Vision, Ezio could see Link had gone deeper in the tunnels to find somewhere to recover and get ready for more fighting. Still coughing, Ezio made his way down into the tunnels below. He rounded a corner, and was greeted with an arrow to the chest. He grunted and stumbled backwards, glaring down at Link, who was leaned up against the wall to relieve pressure from his broken leg, the Hero Bow in his hands. Link turned his head to grab another arrow, but when he drew the string back the Assassin had disappeared. The Hylian began to worry as he looked in every direction for the Assassin, but couldn’t see him in the shadowy corridors. Suddenly he heard a metallic pop, and turned behind him, just as Ezio stabbed him through the forearm with a Hidden Blade. Link gasped out, while the assassin brutally kicked him in the back of his broken knee, swinging him around. The warriors looked each other in the eye as Ezio placed his other hand at Link’s throat, allowing the Hidden Blade to slide out, stabbing him through the throat. Link choked on his blood and began to shake violently for a few moments, before he stopped moving. Ezio reached up, closing the Hero of Time’s eyes and slowly laid him on the ground. “Requiescat in pace.” Ezio whispered as he began the return trip to the surface. There was no doubt that the M’kraan Crystal would need to be transported to a safer facility now. Winner: Ezio Auditore da Firenze Expert's Opinion While the battle was incredibly close, with a final vote of 10 to 11, but in the end Ezio got the edge due to his arsenal being better designed for killing, his agile skills and his ability to scan the enviroment and keep track of his foes with Eagle Vision, plus his ability to blend in with the enviroment easily allowed him to open a number of additional combat options. To see the original battle, weapons, and votes click here. Battle vs. Jack Sparrow (by Greenberet69) Life in the pirate city of Tortuga is still the same with pirates and wenches drinking, having fun, and shooting out random shots from their guns. In the Tortuga bar the infamous Cpatain Jack Sparrow along with 4 crew men from the Black Pearl are gathering up other pirates to join the crew. Jack sitting at the table looks up to notice a strange man in white robes. "Excuse me mate. Can I help you with something?" Jack asks The stranger in white walks up to Jack at the table. "Yes you can." The stranger says "Well you like to join my crew mister...."Jack says "Ezio Auditore da Firenze." Ezio says "And no I don't want to join your crew Jack Sparrow." Ezio says "That accent of yours you Italian?" Jack asks "Yes I am now listen to me Jack Sparrow you may not know it but you killed two of my men at Port Royale." Ezio says "Sorry mate I don't remember killing anyone at the Port except a couple of East India Trading Company soldiers." Jack says "Exactly my two men were undercover to find out if this East India Trading Co. was supplying my enemies called the Templars." Ezio says "Well sorry about that mate but if you don't mind some people what to join my crew if you don't mind." Jack says Ezio turns around to the other pirates and says "Sorry people but sign ups are closed." Ezio says "Now what do you think you are doing mate?" Jack says "You need to pay for your crimes Jack Sparrow." Ezio says "Sorry mate but first of all there should be a Captain in there somewhere, second you are outnumbered 5 to one mate." Jack says as his pirates draw their weapons. "Your wrong Sparrow." Ezio says "Jack then looks up to notice another person wearing the same white robe as Ezio. "Who are you mate?" Jack asks "I am Ezio Auditore da Firenze. I am an Assassin of Italia!" Ezio says "Right sorry mate but got to go now bye." Jack says The Assassin with the crossbow fires at Jack but Jack ducks out of the way and the arrow strikes the Pirate behind Jack in the heart . One of Jack's pirates with a Musket fires at the Assassin with the crossbow strikes the Assassin in the chest and makes the Assassin fall to the ground floor . Jack gets back up and doesn't see Ezio and orders his men out the back door. Jack and the pirates exit the bar out the back door and start heading out of the alleyway when the Pirate with the musket gets struck by an arrow in the back . Jack and the other pirates look on the roof and see Ezio with his Crossbow and one of the pirates fires his Flintlock at Ezio but Ezio gets out of sight and the shot misses. Jack and his pirates head out into the street which is full of people and they start heading back to the Black Pearl. On their way there they are forced to take a detour when the road to the docks is blocked by a huge fight for money. However unknown to them they play right into Ezio's hands and they notice 2 robed men following them. Jack looks up to see a Assassin jump from the roof and tries to assassinate Jack but Jack pulls out his Flintlock and fires a shot and kills the Assassin who falls to the ground dead , "Alright mates so you two just stay here and keep those Assassins busy I will just go to the Black Pearl and bring back help" Jack says (Sarcastically) Jack runs off leaving the two pirates. The two assassins who are in cover move up and one of the pirates armed with a Musket fires but misses and starts to reload while the other pirate who has reloaded his Flintlock tries to find out which Assassin to shoot. Unknown to them however is that the assassins are just to act as cover while Ezio scales onto the roof of the building behind them and as soon as he sees them he gets back and starts running and jumps off of the roof (Imagine slow motion here) Ezio draws his Dual Hidden Blades and drives both of them into the necks of the two pirates . Ezio signals his assassins and they meet up and head after Jack. They enter what looks like an abandoned part of Tortuga when one of the Assassins see Jack enter a building. "Master over there." One of the Assassins say The Assassin runs off with Ezio and the other Assassin follow him. The Assassin gets to the door and opens it up and sees a Cannon pointing straight at him with Jack holding the lighter. "Hello there mate." Jack says The Assassins eyes widen as Jack fires the Cannon which blows right through the Assassin but Ezio and the other Assassin are able to dodge the Cannonball as it flies through the other building . The other Assassin gets back up and goes into the building Jack is in but Jack is waiting in the corner next to a rope and draws his Cutlass and cuts the rope which causes a chandelier above the Assassin to fall right on top of him, Jack gets over to the Assassin and puts a bullet through his head with his Flintlock . Jack looks up to see Ezio get up and run towards him and so Jack starts running and exits out the back door. Jack runs into a nearby barn but once he gets inside he doesn't see sign of a back door and turns around but to see Ezio in his way. Jack draws his Cutlass and Ezio draws his Sword of Altair "Listen mate we could do this the easy way or the hard way." Jack "I don't care what way it is you have nowhere else to run." Ezio says Jack charges at Ezio who block a strike from Jack's Cutlass and hits Jack in the face with his fist sending Jack stumbling back. Ezio charges at Jack and the two engage in a long duel, Ezio swings at Jack's head but Jack ducks down and swings at Ezio's leg but Ezio jumps over the sword. Jack swings his Cutlass but Ezio jumps back but Jack is able to draw his Flintlock which he reloaded while running and aims at Ezio "Sorry mate I win." Jack says Jack fires his Flintlock which strikes Ezio in the chest and Ezio falls down. Jack walks over the Ezio's body takes his hat off and kneels down and says "Sorry it had to end this way mate." Jack says He gets up to leave but unknown to him Ezio opens his eyes grabs the Sword of Altair and cuts Jack's legs and he falls down in pain. "Not bad mate but how did you survive?" Jack says Ezio shows him the Armor of Altair which the bullet bounced off of. Jack draws his sword and ready to defend himself but Ezio points his hands at Jack's head, Jack is confused until he notices something under Ezio's hand. Ezio fires the Hidden Gun which goes right through Jack's skull and Jack Sparrow falls down dead . Ezio keels down by Jack "Requiescat in pace" Ezio says and closes Jack's eyes. Winner: Ezio Auditore da Firenze Expert's Opinion While Jack had the better experience fighting more tougher enemies then Ezio's enemies. Ezio dominated up close with his better weapons and more skilled fighting up close. Also the important X-Factors of Tactics, Physicality, and Psychological health helped him. But the most important X-Factor of Audacity brought him the win as he was never afraid to fight and never run away from battle. 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